Monday, June 16, 2003

Buses are amazing

The other day I was driving home down University Ave. Traffic was backed up for about a mile because some idiot rammed right into the car in front of him in such a manner that it closed down all of the northbound traffic.

I looked over and saw a city bus stuck in the traffic just like all of the other cars. I began to wonder - how are buses always on time? Don't they get caught in traffic, too? Even if traffic is somewhat normal, how on earth do they keep that rigorous schedule? In 1997 I used to take the bus to the University of Iowa. That bus was NEVER late.

This is a question I've had for some time now. I was talking to Rachel about it and neither of us knew how they keep their schedules. A few days later, she came back to me with a first-hand story that helped us learn how they work.

Coming home from BYU, sometimes Rach likes to take the bus from the Wilkinson Center to the Gold's Gym right by her house. Apparently, she got on the wrong one and it took her to a totally different part of town. After a while the bus pulled into some parking station and turned off. Oops! She had to sit there in the bus for about 10 minutes until the driver came back and went on his way.

So that's how they do it! They have a 10 minute break after each route. If they finish the route on time, then they have 10 minutes. If they finish 5 minutes late, then they only have a 5 minute break. Geez, them bus folk sure is smart.